


You Can't Win Them All

by orphan_account



Series: Carlos and the Spiderwolves [2]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Baseball, Baseball talk, Drinking, Fluff, M/M, Night Vale Spiderwolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-19
Updated: 2015-03-19
Packaged: 2018-03-18 14:10:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3572543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a crushing loss, Carlos the Pitcher and Cecil the announcer offer each other some comfort, along with some beer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Can't Win Them All

The game was not going well. Carlos had to be pulled from the game in the fourth inning, not that the other pitchers could save this mess. Nothing was going right for the Spiderwolves. Cecil felt he was about to cry.

Granted, he had witnessed many losing games in his career as the ball park announcer, but this game was bad. Really bad. Carlos had given up four runs in the first inning, and two more in the second.

Not only that, but it was the first game Carlos would lose as a Spiderwolf. As the game reached the last inning, everyone knew it was a lost cause. Most of the audience had left by that point. Cecil finished out the game when the pain finally came to a close. That had to have been one of the worst game he’s ever seen. The Spiderwolves lost 14-2. If it wasn’t for Earl Harlan hitting two home runs, they wouldn’t had scored anything.

Cecil gathered his stuff and went to go home. He really wanted to sleep. The new intern, Pablo, stopped him to ask about something or other with the game start time. Cecil really was distracted. Pablo’s words barely registered.

Cecil finally got away, probably frustrating Pablo with an empty, unhelpful answer, and walked out to the gate. It was late. The game ran long due to the inability of the Spiderwolves to strike people out. The cool desert night air felt good on Cecil’s skin. It wasn’t particularly cold, nor was it hot. Just… pleasant. The air smelled of flowers. The sudden breeze almost took away from the pain of the night. Almost. Not really. No, it didn’t.

Cecil stopped to look at the clear night sky. The stars really were beautiful. Thankfully, the park was in a relatively rural area, meaning the sky was almost always clear and they could see all the stars and the void above them. Light pollution really wasn’t a huge problem and …nope, he still felt horrible about the game.

Managers and players passed by him as he gazed up at the sky. He heard murmurs of conversation mixed in with exhausted yawns and the tapping of shoes on pavement. The white noise blended together after a while. So much so that he failed to immediately notice that one of the sets of shoes stopped in front of him.

“Do you like to stargaze?” A voice asked.

Cecil yelped at the sudden voice and jumped back, only to see Carlos standing there.

“Oh my god! Carlos!” Cecil panted to calm his erratic heartbeat, “You scared the crap out of me!”

Carlos gave a small smile and chuckled. “Sorry about that. I was just wondering if you stargaze often.”

Cecil recovered enough to smooth out his hair and readjust his bag on his shoulder. “Uh, not often.” Carlos’ smile fell as the dark skinned man looked toward the sky. “…Do you?” Cecil tried.

Carlos nodded. “It helps me relax.” Cecil nodded to no one in particular.

Even though Carlos had been on the team for a few weeks, Cecil still felt the same about the man. He was still the extraordinarily handsome rookie that had arrived less than a month ago. He had gorgeous wavy hair that went down to his shoulders. He was still extremely sweet and tended to keep to himself. Cecil had the biggest crush on him, and it didn’t help that the Spiderwolves’ uniform pants ran a bit tighter than some other teams.

Cecil stared at the pitcher. Carlos looked up at the stars, basked in moonlight. All of the lights of the stadium had long been turned off, leaving just the light from the sky and the cars on the road. He had showered, so his hair was still damp. He wore a team t-shirt and faded jeans. As picturesque as he looked, Cecil really did wish he wore his uniform pants all the time…

“Cecil?” Carlos snapped Cecil out of his thoughts.

“Hm?” Cecil tried to recover.

“I asked if you wanted to come over. For… maybe a drink and I have a telescope. I didn’t realize that we could see Orion so clearly today. You have to see it through a telescope. It’s beautiful. That is... if you want too.”

Cecil felt like jumping up and down in excitement. He felt his heart leap and every nerve in his body felt as if it would explode. But, he had to keep his cool in front of Carlos. He couldn’t show his excitement at the idea. That might overwhelm the pitcher.

“Sure,” Cecil tried to act suave and casual about the prospect. He failed, for the most part. “I would love to.”

“Awesome.” Carlos flashed a brilliant white smile. Cecil had to keep his knees from buckling at the sight. “I’ll meet you there in 20.” Carlos pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled down his address. “Here you go,” he said, handing the paper over.

Cecil almost forgot to grab it. He shook out of his momentary stupor and took the address.

Both men said a brief farewell before heading to their respective cars. It took everything Cecil had to not speed all the way to Carlos’ house.

~

“Wait wait, he _threw_ his bat at the ball, and still got on base?”

“Yes! It bounced over my head and I couldn’t catch it!” Carlos giggled and almost fell over onto the balcony of his apartment.

Cecil rolled his eyes. “Only in high school leagues.” This caused Carlos to go into another fit of giggles.

The two men ended up on the balcony, both with a beer. Cecil quickly found out Carlos could not hold his alcohol. He was already tipsy and giggling from downing two of them. They originally started looking at the stars, but it quickly devolved into Carlos telling stories from his previous teams. Not that Cecil minded, of course. Cecil had only worked for the Spiderwolves, and never really played any ball as a child. Also, he loved to listen to Carlos’ oaky, beautiful voice telling stories while slightly drunk.

“Okay then, what was your batting average in high school?” Cecil asked.

Carlos lolled his head over, staring Cecil down. “Bad. Really bad. One time I hit a grand slam and they gave me a water cooler shower even though we lost.”

Cecil’s giggles returned, as did Carlos’. “So, did you hit .200?”

“No. Not even. I was more like, .125.” Carlos leaned on the railing of the balcony, taking another swig. “I swear the only reason I’m not a reliever is because I can go for 8 innings.” Carlos looked down at his bottle, smile and giggles fading. “Not that today proved that.”

Cecil’s smile fell. It would be stupid to think that the day’s loss didn’t affect the man. He watched Carlos stare at this bottle, looking as if he would cry. The announcer went over to Carlos to rub circles in the man’s back.

“You can’t be on top of it all the time.” Cecil shrugged. “Everyone has off days.”

Carlos practically growled. The noise took Cecil by surprise and fear. “I know that. But I’m supposed to have science on my side. That’s how I got so good in the first place. I use science to help me.” The pitcher slammed his fist on the railing of the balcony.

Cecil decided to take Carlos’ bottle away from him. That was enough alcohol for one night. “Yeah but, sometimes your body doesn’t listen to the science in your brain.” Cecil tried to comfort the man. The last thing he wanted was to see the player unhappy. The last thing he wanted was to see _Carlos_ unhappy.

Carlos nodded. “Yeah. You have a point.” Carlos leaned himself on Cecil’s body. It took everything in the announcer’s power to not freak out because, _oh my gods Carlos was actually touching him!_

Cecil and Carlos stared out into the stars and the void. Colorful swirls danced in the sky, green and yellow and purple and red. They were so graceful; it calmed Cecil. He felt so content just standing there with the man leaning on him. Cecil let it all melt away. There were no Spiderwolves or cold unfriendly press boxes or work. Just this moment.

After a bit, Carlos mumbled something into Cecil’s shirt.

“What was that?” Cecil asked.

Carlos adjusted so his mouth was free. “I’m sleepy and have a game tomorrow.”

Cecil helped Carlos stand up by himself. “Come on in.”

Cecil walked Carlos inside. He waited while Carlos went to the bathroom and got changed, making sure he got into bed.

“You pr’bably shouldn’t drive.” Carlos mumbled.

Cecil frowned a bit. He didn’t feel too drunk, but he defiantly wasn’t sober. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Carlos has a point.

“Can…can I stay on the couch?” Cecil tried.

Carlos pushed himself up to a sitting position. “No! We can share the bed. I don’t want you out in the cold. Besides. That’s where the house elves take their naps at 4 in the morning.”

Cecil nodded. Carlos got out of bed, hair already cutely mussed, and stumbled to his dresser drawer. He pulled out a set of pajamas, tossing them at Cecil. The announcer dropped them, but quickly picked them back up. This is why he just talked about the game, not played it.

Carlos went back to his bed and sort of flopped down on it. He nodded toward the bathroom, as if telling Cecil to get on with it.

Cecil quickly got ready for bed and changed, coming back to the now dark bedroom. The glowing light from the moon and all the delicate colors from the void softly illuminated the room, and, more importantly, Carlos’ astounding face. Cecil felt a jolt go up his spine as he saw his crush in this beautiful light.

Carlos pulled the sheets so Cecil could get in. Once the announcer was beside him, he pulled him into a hug.

“Thanks, Cecil. I feel a lot better now. You’re a good speaker ‘n stuff.”

The announcer smiled, enjoying Carlos’ embrace. “You’re welcome. You should sleep now.”

Carlos nodded. “You too. Good night.” Carlos rolled over so his back faced the other man.

“Goodnight.” Cecil did the same.

**Author's Note:**

> For the record,  it's not just in the high school leagues.
> 
> If you want to hang or need a spare gummy bear drop off box, you can do so [ here](%E2%80%9Dhitintothecove.tumblr.com%E2%80%9D). I'm always around if you wanna talk.


End file.
